


fallen empires

by taepott



Category: The 100 (TV), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - The 100 (TV) Fusion, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Arranged Marriage, Begging, Biting, Come Eating, Creampie, Dirty Talk, Dom Min Yoongi | Suga, Drunk Sex, Edging, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Light Dom/sub, Marking, Min Yoongi | Suga Is Bad at Feelings, Multiple Orgasms, Oral Sex, Overstimulation, Rough Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Smut, Teasing, Vaginal Sex, min yoongi is a grounder, shamelessly combining my two loves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-04-19 15:25:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14240226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taepott/pseuds/taepott
Summary: if you wanted to survive winter and the impending war with azgeda, you were going to have to find some way to trust yoongi and the other grounders, even if that meant marrying one of them.(or the one where you marry grounder!yoongi to avoid a war.)





	fallen empires

**Author's Note:**

> so i re-edited this and added (a lot) more to it—think of this as a revamped version of 'war of hearts.' if this is your first time reading this, ignore this note! check me out on [tumblr](https://gukvenchy.tumblr.com/)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if you wanted to survive winter and the impending war with azgeda, you were going to have to find some way to trust yoongi and the other grounders, even if that meant marrying one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i edited through this and added (a lot) more to it than there was before—please think of this as a revamped version of 'war of hearts' and if you haven't read the original, just ignore this! check out my [tumblr](https://gukvenchy.tumblr.com/)

It had only been 27 days since you’d landed on Earth when the grounders attacked your group. You were all just a bunch of kids trying to figure out how to stay alive on the ground; but that didn’t matter to the men and women covered head to toe in warriors clothing, war paint on their faces. They’d killed your people all the same.

After 42 days, your camp had managed to capture one of them, tying him up with torn out seat belts from the dropship that had hurdled you through the Earth’s atmosphere and onto the surface of the planet. You’d been against it, begging Namjoon to reconsider holding someone hostage; you had seen the conflict in his eyes when he hesitated, but he eventually pushed you aside and gave the go ahead to do with the grounder as they pleased for information.

When the 46th day had passed, you snuck into the top part of the pod, climbing up the small ladder and locking the opening once you were inside. You turned around and met the unwavering gaze of the grounder man.

Well, boy.

He couldn’t have been a warrior; he looked so young, almost the same age as yourself. But he had war paint smeared on his face, sweat and blood mixing on his body. You winced at how he was tied up, standing on his feet and his arms held apart tightly so he couldn’t move them. He was scowling at you.

“Um,” you started, aware that he probably wouldn’t understand a word you said. “I brought you some food and water.”

He didn’t respond, watching you carefully with his dark eyes. You cleared your throat and made your way over to him slowly, raising one of the slices of meat you’d swiped from earlier when no one was looking, too busy drinking the moonshine Hoseok had made to notice that you’d taken three slices off of the sticks by the fire.

He lunged forward and you flinched back violently, nearly dropping the meat.

“Don’t do that,” you pleaded with him. “I’m trying to keep you alive.” You raised your hand again, offering it once more. He bared his teeth at you, but when you didn’t back away, he opened his mouth and allowed you to help him eat.

You waited another week for him to finally speak to you in English.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. Your eyes widened and you rushed over to him in excitement.

“You speak English?” you questioned.

“Yes, I speak your language,” he replied cautiously. “Our warriors learn all of the languages.” You nodded in interest and grabbed the wet cloth you’d brought with you this time, carefully cleaning the wounds that had been inflicted in the torture sessions you’d tried to stop from happening.

“What’s your name?” you asked him, dabbing at a fresher cut on his abdomen.

He hesitated before answering you. “Taehyung.”

“Taehyung,” you repeated quietly. You finished cleaning the blood from his skin and straightened up, smiling widely at him. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m ____.”

You’d started to form a friendship with him in the weeks that followed. He taught you words in his native language, and informed you that he was from Trikru, which meant Wood Clan. Taehyung also told you that his people were scouting yours. They wanted to know who exactly had been attacking Trikru warriors and putting up such a fight. He’d called you Skaikru, which meant Sky People.

You explained to him how you had been living on the Ark, a ship in space that had held your people for centuries, drifting in Earth’s orbit after the nuclear war had radiated the Earth beyond imagination, killing nearly everyone on its surface. No one on the Ark had known there had been survivors, entire groups of people, living on the Earth, immune to the dangerous radiation. Detailing your experiences had turned out to be a bit harder than you’d thought; your eyes stung when you told him how the Ark had been dying, the oxygen levels diminishing until the Council had decided to send the children prisoners in the Sky Box to the ground to test the habitability of the radiation levels.

He had listened to your story for hours, paying close attention. He repaid your information with his own; how his people had their leader,  _Heda_  in Trigedasleng. You listened intently, filing away the bits of information he gave you about his clan and their traditions. You knew now that they wouldn’t stop coming to attack your camp. To them, you were outsiders; poachers on their land that took and gave nothing in return.

After every secret meeting you had with him, your mind was filled with muddled thoughts over his imprisonment. You understood where your camp was coming from; grounders had killed your people when they wandered too far into the dense forest surrounding the walls you’d all built around the crash site. But who were they if they held grounders and tortured them? Who would they  _become_?

You debated with yourself for days over what to do. You knew you might be able to convince Namjoon that what he was doing was wrong, but the problem lay with the rest of your people. They were happy they’d caught a grounder and Namjoon wanted to get more information about the people that had survived the nuclear apocalypse. So attempting to get Namjoon to release the captive was out of the question; telling him anything would only put you under suspicion. You knew if you helped him escape, all eyes would turn to you. You didn’t care; if you and your people were going to survive on this planet, you needed to make sure that you were all worthy of surviving.

Eventually, a day came where you found your opening to help Taehyung escape. The camp had accidentally consumed hallucinogenic berries; you gave some to the guard posted by the entrance to the room where Taehyung was being held. He thanked you and you waited for half an hour before the effects started to boggle his mind; he went to go follow something that he had conjured up, talking to himself as he left. Taking the opportunity, you snuck into the room and undid Taehyung’s makeshift ropes, holding him up when he slumped over.

You helped him down the ladder slowly and then grabbed a spare jacket, tucking it around him and pulling the hood up to cover his face. You slung his arm around your shoulders and half-carried him out of the dropship and into the middle of the camp, where everyone was stuck in their own hallucinations. The two of you kept to the wall of the camp, taking great effort to keep Taehyung shielded from view.

Once you’d made it outside of the gate, you shut it again and helped him limp into the forestry surrounding the camp.

It only took twenty minutes of walking before you were yanked back and thrown into a heap on the ground, Taehyung wobbling and following suit. You groaned in pain, arching off the rough terrain in an attempt to get off of the tiny rocks that jabbed into your back from the fall. When you opened your eyes, you saw a blur of dark hair and then something sharp was pressed against your throat. You finally focused enough to see a man dressed similarly to how Taehyung had been dressed when they’d dragged his limp body into the camp.

“ _Chomouda dula op yu don em_?” he growled, pressing the knife down against your neck a little harder. Your breath caught and you stared up at him in confusion. His skin was pale, but there was black paint smeared across his eyes, white paint directly under it on his cheeks. His dark hair was falling in messy strands across his forehead.

“Yoongi!” Taehyung grunted from somewhere beside you. “ _Hod op! Em don sis ai au_!” You caught enough of Taehyung’s words from what he’d taught you that you realized he was telling who you assumed was Yoongi that you’d helped him escape.

Yoongi turned hard eyes on you as Taehyung pushed himself onto shaky feet. You kept your own gaze focused on the man with the knife to your throat. “ _Sen em klir_.” Taehyung’s voice was quiet and harsh. There was a tense pause and then the knife was taken off of your skin, a trickling sensation in its wake. You got to your feet slowly, cautious about angering him or making any sudden movements.

Yoongi rushed forward and grabbed you by the front of your dirty shirt, bringing you in close so he could snarl at you.

“You and your people are idiots to think that you could take one of ours and live,” he said lowly, making the hair on the back of your neck stick up in alarm. Your body started to tremble; you needed to get away from him. “I only let you live because you brought him back safe.”

“ _M-mochof_ ,” you replied hesitantly, the foreign language heavy on your tongue. You thought that thanking him in his native tongue would get you some kind of brownie points, since you’d been working with Taehyung for weeks to study it.

He scoffed and pushed you backwards, nearly toppling you over again. “Go back to your little camp,  _veida_.”

You didn’t need to be told twice.

* * *

“Namjoon, come on!” you yelled out in frustration, not caring that the small flap of the tent wouldn’t keep your conversation private. He sighed and looked back at you, just as frustrated.

“Why would I agree to meet their leader?” he asked you. “They’ve killed so many of us! How can we trust that they won’t kill us the second we step into their village?”

“We don’t,” you responded solemnly. “But what other choice do we have?” Before he could reply, you pushed on, planting your palms on the small table. “The weather is getting colder. There won’t be enough food to last us the whole winter! And where is everyone supposed to sleep? The dropship won’t hold all of us plus our valuables, and our small food supply, or our medical equipment or—”

“Fine!” Namjoon bit out, holding up a hand. “We go talk to them. But we’re bringing our guns.”

“Fine,” you replied with a frown.

You just hoped that you and Taehyung wouldn’t regret forming this plan to get all of your people on the same side.

Traveling from your campsite to the Trikru village was exhausting. It took two days and a night to make it there; Namjoon decided to bring only a handful of people along, you included as his sort-of-co-leader-but-mostly-consultant.

When you arrived, there were grounders all around you, watching your small group quietly. You tried to keep your posture light, but your shoulders had tensed up visibly at the sight of the looming warriors. Once you made it inside the village, you looked around until you spotted Taehyung’s familiar face, surprisingly not clad in any paint.

“ _Hei, ai lukot_!” he shouted to you, waving his hand high in the air. You smiled and jogged over to him, the rest of your group following you a little more cautiously.

“ _Lukot_ …” you trailed off when you reached him, letting out a small yelp when he wrapped his arms around you in a hug. “That’s ‘friend,’ right?”

“Yes!” he responded, his smile lighting up his tan face. He nodded briefly at the group slightly behind you when he disentangled the two of you. “Come.  _Heda_  is waiting inside.”

He led you all into the largest house-like structure you’d seen since walking into the village, leading through a long hall until you reached a set of guarded double doors.

“ _No shuda_ ,” a hulk of a man said gruffly to you and your group. Everyone was confused, including you; Taehyung hadn’t taught you that word.

Said boy turned to face your group. “No weapons allowed inside. You must leave them here.”

“Wait, but—”

“Leave them,” Namjoon hissed to the boy that had spoken, depositing his own gun to the crate beside the guard. You knew he didn’t want to risk starting a fight; he was just as desperate for a truce as you were, even if he didn’t want to admit it. Everyone followed his lead and dropped their weapons in the crate. The side of your boot burned against your skin as you purposely ignored what was tucked inside it and you tried to will your heart to stop pounding against your chest.

The doors opened loudly and Namjoon stepped into the room first. He continued inside to a wide area where a group of grounders were standing on the opposite end of a large table. You followed behind him, as did the rest of your group, coming to stand around him in the same way that the grounders were surrounding the man in the front, charcoal paint smeared around his eyes messily.

“Welcome, Namjoon  _kom Skaikru_ ,” the man said, his voice deep and melodic. “I am Seokjin  _kom Trikru_.” You eyed up the people behind him, your gaze eventually falling on the person directly across from you; Yoongi. Your eyes widened a little when he looked at you, and you turned to face their  _heda_  quickly.

“Thank you for suggesting this meeting,  _Heda_ ,” Namjoon replied smoothly. The  _heda_ ’s lips cut into a sharp smile that was all teeth before he took a step back, gesturing toward the table.

“Please,” he told your group. “Have a seat. We have much to discuss.”

Namjoon nodded and took a seat in the center, followed by the grounders’ leader, and then everyone else took their seats at the table. You were placed right in front of Yoongi again, and you kept thinking about that day in the forest when he’d held a knife to your throat and threatened to kill you.

“I have suggested this meeting so we can discuss a truce,” Seokjin started, his gaze never leaving Namjoon’s. “You have technology and weapons that could prove useful to us. We can offer you our aid to get through this winter and many more to come.”

Namjoon nodded along, narrowing his eyes. “There must be a catch. What do you need our technology and weapons for?”

Seokjin’s smile turned feral. “Azgeda is moving in on our territory.”

“So you just need more soldiers?” Namjoon scoffed.

The grin vanished at Namjoon’s tone. You nudged his foot with yours as a warning.

“That would be part of the alliance, yes.”

“Why would we agree to a truce where you could use my people as pawns in your fight?”

“If Azgeda attempts to take over Trikru territory, Skaikru camp is right in between,” Seokjin hissed, leaning forward. “Your people will be slaughtered like animals.”

You could see Namjoon clench his jaw. Your eyes swept across the grounders sitting around Seokjin, landing on Yoongi again. His posture was laidback; he was leaning back into the chair and his expression seemed to be disinterested. But you noticed his hands were resting under the table, conveniently where you couldn’t see what he was doing—or what he was holding. You were sure his fingers were wrapped around a knife. Your own fingers twitched, ready to slip the small dagger hidden in your boot out at any moment to protect Namjoon.

“So if we agree to this truce, how will we trust that you’ll keep your end of the deal?” Namjoon pondered, placing his arms on the table.

The  _heda_ ’s smile returned. “You don’t trust Trikru?”

Namjoon’s smile was tight and thin when he replied. “No offense.”

Seokjin sighed, his posture relaxing. “I take none. We don’t exactly trust Skaikru to hold up their end either.”

“Then how do we get this truce to work?”

His fingers tapped against the wooden table, his eyes wide and giving off a sense of innocence. You were immediately on edge, not wanting to hear what he was going to say.

“Trikru tradition for alliances is ties through marriage.”

There was a beat of silence and then your side of the table erupted with noise.

“Marriage?” Namjoon shouted.

“What the hell?” you hissed, standing up.

More cries sounded from around you, the other members of your small group standing as well. The warriors around Seokjin moved in closer to him, their hands going to their strapped weapons. You could see the corners of Seokjin’s mouth tighten as he watched your people cautiously.

Namjoon, who had stayed seated, raised his hand to you. “Sit down.” When no one followed his order, you quickly sat back in your chair, giving the others a stern look; you couldn’t show the  _heda_  that your group wasn’t completely obedient to your own leader. They sat down as well, grumbling amongst themselves.

“What good would a marriage be in this situation?” Namjoon asked Seokjin, who was watching him carefully; you noticed his eyes dart over to you a few times.

“It ties the two clans together. We would be more inclined to help one another if we have something as concrete as a marriage between our people to connect us,” Seokjin explained easily, gesturing between the two groups as he spoke.

Namjoon narrowed his eyes at the  _heda_. “And I’m assuming this marriage would have to be between leaders?”

The corners of Seokjin’s lips twitched. “We would not be the ones getting married,  _heda kom Skaikru_. Our people need us where we are.”

“What do you mean ‘where we are?’”

“Well, once the marriage ceremony takes place, the couple will have to travel from territory to territory. Time with Trikru and time with Skaikru.”

“Okay… and who are the two that you suggest seal this alliance between us?” Namjoon asked him, his posture tensing as he watched Seokjin’s eyes move across the small group he’d brought along before settling back on him.

“Well, we have already decided on one of mine,” the  _heda_  informed quickly, gesturing with a hand at Yoongi, who was seated right beside him. “Yoongi is my second and best suited for the position. My second being tied to your clan will assure our allegiance.” At Namjoon’s nod of consent, Seokjin continued. “I suggest the one beside you.” His eyes found yours and you felt your heart leap up into your throat as you looked at Yoongi before turning to face Namjoon, who had already opened his mouth to protest.

“I’ll do it,” you whispered to him. He looked back at you in shock, ready to argue with you. You kept your voice low as you continued, to assure no one but Namjoon would hear you. “We have to offer someone that’s just as high of a position as Yoongi is; they’ll see any other person as a show of disrespect. I’ll do it.”

Namjoon couldn’t counter your logic, and you took a deep breath before turning to meet the Trikru  _heda_ ’s brown eyes. “I’ll do it.”

His smile was sharp at your reply. “Excellent. Now let us talk about what will happen after.”

* * *

All non-essential members of your party had left for lunch with the other grounders; only you and Namjoon remained in the room with Seokjin and a handful of his own people.

A map was spread out on the table and Yoongi had moved to stand beside you so he could gesture at the map better.

“Skaikru camp is here,” he told you and Namjoon. He pointed to a spot in the forestry where you assumed the dropship had crashed. He moved his finger farther East and made a circle around a large portion of land. “This is where Azgeda is.”

Namjoon looked thoughtful. “And Azgeda is…”

Yoongi sighed through his nostrils. “Ice Nation.”

He nodded in response, not noticing Yoongi’s condescending look. “Okay. So I’m assuming everything here—” Namjoon pointed to where the map was marked with the name of a village in Trigedasleng, “—and to the West is Trikru territory.”

Yoongi nodded. “Yes.” He paused, but Namjoon didn’t ask anymore questions or make any statements. “Azgeda’s queen, Nia, has been plotting for months now to start a war to rule over all of the clans. When Skaikru landed, we heard from our spies that Nia is planning an ambush against your camp, where she can take your weapons and use them against Trikru.”

You put your hand on the map, pointing to where he’d said your camp was. “So if Trikru can claim posts around Skaikru, with our technology and weaponry, you’d be able to subdue her forces before they can wipe out villages to the West.”

Silence met your proposed strategy and you looked up, meeting Namjoon’s appreciative gaze. You turned your face to the right, looking into Yoongi’s blank face. He watched you with calculating eyes, as if he didn’t think you were worth anything before and you’d surprised him by cutting in. You held his gaze, tension bubbling up around the two of you when he shifted his feet and his clothed arm brushed against yours.

The grounder cleared his throat. “Exactly. There’s still months left before Nia will make a move, especially after the ceremony. Marriages, even if done for alliances, are sacred, and if Nia dares to make a move of war soon after a ceremony of two  _sekens_  tying their clans together, she’ll ruin any chance she has of support from other clans.”

Namjoon’s brows furrowed. “ _Sekens_?”

Yoongi didn’t spare him a glance as he answered, still looking at the map. “Second in command.”

Namjoon made a quiet “ah” sound in acknowledgement. You shifted a bit closer to Yoongi’s side, tilting your head to the side to look down at the map more critically.

“After the ceremony, you can slowly bring other Trikru people to our camp without it being suspicious. Since we’d be allied, it wouldn’t raise any alarms if we slowly spread out our territory.”

Yoongi glanced at you for a split second, shifting a centimeter away from you. “Yes, we could do that. It would give us more of an advantage when Nia decides to move her army toward your camp.”

You nodded in agreement, as did Namjoon.

Seokjin interrupted before anyone could hash out other possible strategies. “I suggest we take a break from the talks of war; we have a wedding to prepare so we can avoid that war for as long as we can.”

* * *

You’d been left to roam around the Trikru villages. Namjoon had originally been with you, but he disappeared with Seokjin to discuss more leader-type things that you were sure he would probably tell you later. You spotted Taehyung talking with another boy, his face also bare of war paint.

“Taehyung!” you called out loudly, making more than one head turn in your direction. You ignored them and jogged over to the grounder boy you’d befriended weeks ago, his bright smile greeting you.

“ _Ai lokut_!” he yelled, engulfing you in his arms. “How was the meeting with  _heda_?”

“It was fine. What’s there to do around here for fun?”

Taehyung’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “Plenty to do later. ____ meet Jungkook; we trained together.” He pointed at the boy next to him and you smiled politely. Jungkook did not return your smile.

“ _Ai nou na wich in yu teik lokut skayon_ ,” he hissed to Taehyung, shooting you a glare. Taehyung shoved his arm lightly in response. From the bit of Trigedasleng you understood after studying with Taehyung, you picked up a few of the words he’d said. You assumed he was telling his friend something about not believing that Taehyung had befriended you, a Sky person.

“ _En’s ku_!  _Em os_ ,” Taehyung replied easily, patting you on the back and resting his hand there. He looked back at you and smiled easily. “You’re good.” For a second you were confused, but then you realized he had translated his own words to you. You pinched his side gratefully and he yelped, shifting away from you.

Jungkook huffed quietly and shifted from side to side, seemingly wanting to leave, but his eyes continuously looking between you and Taehyung. You assumed he didn’t because he didn’t want to leave his friend alone with a Sky person.

“So, what did  _heda_  tell you?” Taehyung questioned, eyes fixed on you. “Is the alliance a go ahead? I’m assuming it is because otherwise you wouldn’t be here, milling about in the village—”

You cut him off. “Don’t worry, we’re… settling the terms right now.”

“Settling the terms?” he asked, furrowing his brows. “What do you mean?”

You shrugged, shifting awkwardly on your feet. “I mean exactly what I said. Settling the terms of the alliance.” Taehyung chose to let it go, giving you a suspicious look and then he nudged the small of your back with his palm, ready to give you a tour of the village along with Jungkook.

* * *

When the sky had dimmed and the village was illuminated by the torches at the gate and fences, Seokjin’s grounder men had called for you. The two warriors led you into the same hall, to the same room; however, only Seokjin, Namjoon, and Yoongi were present this time. You walked over to where they were standing around a table.

Seokjin tilted his head at you. “Your  _heda_  and I have discussed in great detail our alliance. Now, all that’s left is for you and Yoongi to marry.” You nodded your head, ignoring the heaviness in your chest and the tremor in your hands. “The alliance needs to be as soon as possible; we can only get to that after the ceremony. You two will be married tomorrow night.”

You swallowed roughly, clenching your hands into fists. Yoongi didn’t even flinch or look away from his  _heda_  as he sealed your futures together with a sentence.

“So soon?” you asked quietly, hating how small your voice came out. You almost didn’t catch the way Yoongi rolled his eyes and shifted on his feet.

Namjoon put his hand on your elbow, slipping in close. “You sure you want to do this?” he whispered, leaning his head down closer to your face.

“Yes. We need this,” you replied, your heart pounding against your ribs as you spoke. Louder, you said, “Okay. Tell me what I need to do.” You stepped closer to the table, almost right up against it, and Seokjin’s smile was gentle when he looked at you.

“The ceremony will be simple. You just need to follow Trikru tradition for the ceremony and it will be over before you know it.”

“What is Trikru tradition for marriage?” you inquired, wrapping one of your hands around the top of a chair to quell the shaking of it.

“You walk into the clearing. Once you and my  _seken_  are in front of each other, you face one another and repeat the words our healer, Nyko, says to you. After, you share dances and then we feast.” At your nod, his smile fell and his face grew somber. “And in the morning, our alliance will be sealed and we will discuss war with Azgeda.”

“A perfect way to celebrate,” Namjoon muttered, his smile strained. “Anyway, are we done here?”

“Yes,  _heda kom Skaikru_ , we are done here for tonight. You and your people are welcome to stay in our guest halls.”

Namjoon nodded his thanks and led the way out of the room, following one of the Trikru warriors, this time a woman, as she started down the hall. You cast a glance behind you before you stepped out into the hallway, your eyes finding Yoongi.

He didn’t even glance your way.

* * *

You and your small group of friends stayed the night in a large room with multiple beds—real beds—in the house that you’d had your private meetings with the  _heda_. After you’d woken up, your eyes pinched almost completely shut from the lack of sleep you’d gotten and your muscles sore, you wandered outside into the village, where you could see preparations for the wedding taking place. Taehyung had nearly tackled you to the ground in his haste to get to you once he’d spotted you among his own people, and bombarded you with questions.

You’d explained to him what exactly was happening and who was helping you seal this alliance. He’d snorted and patted your shoulder. “Well, Yoongi’s a better choice than a lot of people.” When you had sent him a questioning look, he had shrugged and his lips had twitched. “Don’t worry. He’s good people.”

Now, you were standing in front of a handful of grounder women who were fitting you into a dress. You huffed as they buckled you into it, appreciating that even their marital clothes were practical. The dress was tight around your torso and loose around your thighs and shoulders, making it easy if you needed to run somewhere. The dress was slitted by the shoulders to allow for your skin to peek out, and had patterns of different shades of green—more than you’d ever seen up in the Ark—crossing all over it. They also gave you a pair of thick and nicely made black boots.

Just as the girls had finished applying your makeup, going heavy around the eyes and shading your lips only a shade darker than your natural color, Taehyung and Jungkook burst into the room, making you flinch. You hissed quietly as the movement yanked a section of your hair that one of the girls held in her hand.

“ _Moba_ ,” she apologized gently, continuing to do whatever it was she was doing to style your hair.

“____!” Taehyung yelled happily, looking you up and down quickly. “You look…”

“Weird?” you supplied for him, shooting him a grin.

“ _Meizen_ ,” Jungkook interjected softly. You looked over at him, furrowing your brows. Two of the girls styling your hair snickered, and Jungkook turned away to glance at the wall, huffing as he did so.

“Like Trikru,” Taehyung returned, the corner of his lip tugging up into a small smile.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be outside with everyone else?”

He shrugged. “Probably. I wanted to come see you before.” He walked over and crouched beside you, looking up into your face as he took your hand into his. “Are you okay?”

You rolled your eyes. “I’m fine, Taehyung.”

His grip tightened for a second. “Are you  _okay_?” he asked again. When you looked into his eyes and his gentle features, you had to swallow.

“I’m fine,” you repeated. “I’m doing this for my people. Nothing else besides this alliance matters.” Your voice had gotten quieter and softer, and you noticed the flash of pity that danced in his eyes at your response.

“Okay,” he replied, letting go of your hand after a quick pat, and then standing up. “We’ll let you all finish here. See you soon!”

“Bye,” you called out, waving to the two boys as they left the room; you ignored Jungkook’s quick look at you before he shut the door.

It was only a few more moments before they’d finished styling your hair, pinning sections back and away from your face, but leaving a few strands to frame your face, the rest of your hair left untouched aside from a few small braids.

“You’re ready,” one of the older girls said, smiling at you kindly. You returned it, though it felt like more of a grimace if you were being honest.

You hadn’t imagined that this was what your life on Earth would be like—about to marry a grounder in order to ensure your people’s survival and quell a war between clans before it could demolish the power structure that was already established.

But you needed to do it. You needed to.

You repeated that in your head as you walked out of the house you’d been in and into the village. The pathway led into a small clearing right beside the towering trees of the forestry surrounding the camp, and it was lit beautifully with torches decorated with flowers. You walked quickly, the grounders standing around the path watching you carefully.

You didn’t know exactly what was going on, but Taehyung had spent a good portion of the night sitting beside you and explaining what the ceremony would be like and helping you practice the words that Nyko was going to have you repeat so you wouldn’t insult the clan and ruin the alliance before it could even begin. Yoongi was standing to the side of who you assumed to be Nyko, a hulking man with long hair. His pale skin was illuminated orange from the flames, and his face was once again bare of any dark paint.

Once you stood across from him, Nyko began to say things in Trigedasleng. You looked at Namjoon and the others in your group out of the corner of your eye; they all looked tense and ready to strike should something go wrong. Yoongi’s eyes stayed focused on yours, though you couldn’t tell if he was bored as his expression remained blank and gave away nothing.

You must have zoned out while trying to figure out what he was thinking, because the next thing you knew Yoongi had a dagger and he was running it across his palm. The shallow cut oozed with his blood, and Nyko handed him a bundle of colorful flowers, which he took and squeezed his palm over. Drops of blood fell onto the flowers as he held them between the two of you, and he spoke clearly, his voice deep and strong.

“ _Ai teik_  ____  _kom Skaikru kom au ai houmon_.”

He handed the knife over to you, hilt first. Your mouth dried and you found it almost painful to breathe as you took it from him with shaking hands, mentally cursing yourself for the tremble you couldn’t suppress. You pressed the end against your palm and quickly drew it across until blood welled up from the wound. You copied what Yoongi had done and held your hand above the flowers, clenching your fist so that the blood slipped down against the petals and colored them with it.

“ _Ai teik Yoongi kom Trikru kom au ai houmon_ ,” you said confidently. A few murmurs came from the crowd and you knew that you had impressed at least a couple of the grounders there. Taehyung had explained that this part was vowing to take the other person as your wife and husband, presumably for the rest of your life.

Once you finished speaking, the crowd erupted with cheers and clapping and you turned to face them, surprised at the sudden sounds. Seokjin yelled to the crowd in Trigedasleng and you couldn’t catch even a word of what he said, but then everyone was standing and music started to play around you. When you looked around, you noticed a few grounders perched behind instruments around the clearing.

Yoongi’s hand slipped into yours and he sent you a tight smile when you glanced back in surprise, nearly flinching out of his grasp. He pulled you gently into the middle of the crowd, who stepped a few feet back to give you some space, but not as much as you would have liked. The music was loud and beautiful, and Yoongi’s hands were warm against yours as he started to dance, moving you along. You followed his lead, not used to the upbeat and quick movements he made. His hands continued to grip yours the whole time, and you had to hold back a wince when you realized the wetness of his palm was the blood from earlier—you really hoped you didn’t get a disease because of this.

The rhythm of the music changed and Yoongi slowed to a stop, as did you. He watched you for a few seconds and then smirked, one corner of his lips twitching upwards.

“ _Nou foto_ ,” he said teasingly, keeping one hand entwined with yours. You had to think for a second before you realized he’d told you, “Not bad,” and you stuck your tongue out at him in response. He scoffed and you huffed, tugging on your hand; he didn’t release it.

“ _Spechou_!” Seokjin cheered, coming up to the two of you as everyone around you began to dance and drink. Yoongi’s mouth split into a grin and you were almost blinded by how much gentler he looked with a smile plastered across his face. “Now you two are  _teina_ , and you’ve sealed our alliance!” His cheeks were tinted pink and you were sure that he was starting to get tipsy. “Have fun tonight,” he faux-whispered, winking at the two of you and laughing jovially at the flush rising in your cheeks.

Yoongi’s fingers were intertwined with yours and you were way too focused on them as he led you to the outer edge of the circle of people dancing. His palm was warm against yours and you could hear the blood rushing in your ears.

He found a table and lifted a cup filled with liquid, handing it to you silently.

“Thank you,” you muttered, taking it from him and watching him raise another from the table. You brought the cup to your lips, but a voice stopped you.

“Stop!” it cried, startling you. You turned and saw Taehyung jogging over, his grin wicked and his eyes glittering with mischief. “That’s not tradition—Yoongi, you should know better.”

“ _Gon we_ ,” Yoongi nearly snarled, his cheeks tinging with color.

“I’m not leaving,” Taehyung sang mockingly, turning back to you. “____, I can’t believe he didn’t tell you, but the first drink has to be together!”

Your brows furrowed. “What do you mean? We are drinking together.”

Taehyung shook his head. “No, no. You have to…  _Ha yu don biyo teina_?” he mumbled, looking at Yoongi. Said man’s face darkened and he shrugged, though the twitch in his jaw gave away that he knew the answer that Taehyung was looking for.

The younger boy huffed, looking at you with determination. “You… you put your arms around each other like this—” He linked his arm around yours as if he was going to take a drink, and then sent Yoongi’s scowling face a wolfish grin. “It is tradition. If you don’t, Trikru will be very insulted.” You could feel your face start to heat up and you closed your eyes for a moment, wishing Taehyung would’ve just stayed quiet; you weren’t completely sure Yoongi wouldn’t kill you if you agreed to partake in the tradition.

Said man sighed loudly, angling his body in your direction. You looked at him incredulously; was he seriously going to do this?

“Can’t break tradition,” he gritted out, sending Taehyung a ferocious smile. The younger boy’s face paled for a second, and then he sent you two a thumbs up. You turned to be completely facing Yoongi and he brought his arm up vertically, offering it to you with his drink in hand. You wrapped your own arm around his carefully, so as to not spill the drink, until your arms were entwined. Your heights didn’t completely match, so it felt very unnatural to have your drinks positioned like this.

Electricity shot through your arm where your skin was connected, even though there were layers of clothing between the two of you. You accidentally looked up and caught his eye, to which his gaze shifted away from yours.

He cleared his throat. “Okay, let’s drink.”

You nodded and followed his lead, attempting to bring the cup to your lips even though it was wrapped around his arm. Every movement rubbed a shock into your flesh, tingles running through your muscles. Finally, you both somehow managed to get to the cups without spilling any of the drinks, and you took small sips.

Taehyung cheered, yelling in Trigedasleng and making others look over to catch what you were doing. More cheers and applause broke from the celebrating crowd, and you turned a polite smile their way as Yoongi detached his arm from around yours. The firm press of his forearm seemed to remain within your bones even after it was gone.

“ _Emo spin raun_!” someone called from the massive crowd of grounders, causing another round of hoots and cheers to erupt. You didn’t understand what he said, but you figured he was saying you and Yoongi should do something.

“ _En’s ku_ ,” Yoongi called back, lifting his hand and setting his drink down on the table behind you. From earlier, you’d realized those words meant ‘it’s okay’ and you felt relief pass through you at his words.

It didn’t last long.

Calls from the groups dancing sounded out, petulant and pleading for you two to do what they wanted. You hesitantly tugged on Yoongi’s sleeve, making him snap his head toward you.

“What?” he asked, though his tone betrayed that he really wasn’t in the mood to answer any questions that you had.

You bit the inside of your cheek before replying. “What do they want us to do?”

“Dance.” Yoongi looked away almost immediately, grimacing at the crowd of people now engulfing you, bringing their hands out to grab at both of you.

“ _Spin raun_!” the woman that had grabbed your arm said to you, smiling wide. You returned her smile and looked at Yoongi, who was also being dragged forward and closer to the makeshift dance floor.

He sighed and grabbed your hand, bringing you closer and rousing more drunk cheers from the villagers. You looked up at him as he set his hands on your waist, not looking back at you. You placed your own hands on his shoulders and he began to sway the two of you along to the slower beat of the grounder music.

“I don’t know how to dance,” you whispered to him suddenly, looking down at your feet and trying to imitate his movements. You heard him snort quietly and then his hand slid to your back, pulling you in closer to his body. It prompted you to move your eyes back up to his face, shocked and flushed at the sudden proximity.

“I’ll lead. Just sway to the music and no one will notice,” he informed you kindly, a small smile playing on his lips. You returned it gratefully, attempting to do as he said and ignoring the feel of his palms against your back.

No one did notice that you weren’t exactly sure how to dance, but couples soon gathered around to dance on the edges of your own little circle, moving more gracefully than you to the beats of the villagers’ music. Yoongi’s hands on you were a good distraction from what was going on, as you couldn’t focus on anything except the small shocks dancing across your skin wherever he touched. His eyes stayed focused on you the entire time, your skin heating quickly under his gaze as he led you through the dance.

Eventually, he stopped moving as the song smoothly transitioned into a more upbeat one, and he kept a hand on the small of your back as he nudged you forward to leave the throng of people dancing joyfully. You passed Taehyung on the way, who hooted and brought attention to the two of you, making others notice that you were headed off somewhere and following with their own suggestive noises.

Once you were far enough away, he removed his hand from your back and you missed the heat of his palm immediately. Yoongi continued to walk ahead of you and you continued to follow him since you didn’t know what else you were supposed to do. A little home appeared in your line of sight and you sighed with relief at the thought of curling up in a bed to sleep off the tension and stress from the past few days.

You nearly tripped over your own feet when you realized that you were both headed to the small house made of sturdy looking bricks.

Yoongi opened the door to it and stopped, looking back at you silently.

“Um,” you started, laughing nervously as your stomach churned. “I can find somewhere else to sleep, it’s fine, really—”

He rolled his eyes, gesturing with one hand through the doorway and a raised eyebrow. “We’re married now. You’re sleeping here.”

“Yoongi, seriously, it’s fi—”

He sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Don’t you think it would be very strange that  _houmon_  are not sleeping in the same home?”

You shut your mouth in response, dropping your head in embarrassment and quickly walking past his body and through the doorway. When you looked up, you paused, taking in the homey and cozy looking living space. It was quite a bit smaller than you’d expected for the second-in-command, but you guessed it made sense since Yoongi lived alone; he also didn’t seem like the kind of person that would keep many things lying around.

“Your  _soujon leron_  were brought here earlier today, they are over there,” he told you, pointing by the closet. You followed the direction and saw the bag you’d brought with you from your camp, lying in a small heap on the floor.

“ _Soujon leron_?” you asked him, walking over to grab the small pack. When you looked up, Yoongi was undoing his jacket and slipping it off, revealing a tight shirt that showed his arms along with swirling ink designs along his skin.

He turned to face you as he answered, looking as tired as you felt. “Travel things.”

“Ah, thank you,” you replied, nodding your head. You fell into another bout of silence and the tense atmosphere reappeared. As he took his boots off, setting them right up against the wall, you could feel the queasiness from earlier returning.

He was undressing. He told you where your clothes were so that you could undress as well. You’d just gotten married. The grounders had so many traditions for their unions—were the two of you expected to consummate the marriage as well? Was that how the alliance was technically sealed?

Your hands started to tremble and you clutched the bag in your hands tighter. You couldn’t tear your eyes from Yoongi, who looked relaxed as he started to undo the front of his pants. He suddenly looked up at you and made eye contact, raising his eyebrows until they disappeared behind the dark hair falling across his forehead.

“The bathroom is down there,” he said, pointing down a small hall where there were two more doors. “The one on the right is for storing weapons, the left is the bathroom. You can change in there.”

You nodded, swallowing past the lump forming in your throat. “Thanks.” You hurried past him and down the little hallway into the left door, shutting it behind you. You locked the door and opened the bag, taking out the more comfortable clothes you’d brought. It took you a few tries to unzip the dress since your fingers wouldn’t stop shaking. You slipped it off and put your own clothes back on, looking into the clean mirror against the wall above the makeshift sink. There was a medium sized bowl of clean water sitting on the small counter and you started to use it to scrub the makeup off of your face. It took a few minutes, but you’d managed to wipe your face clean and you noticed your face was a little red from how hard you’d scrubbed it with your hands.

Was he waiting out there for you? Was he going to pull you down into the bed and have his way with you? Your heart leaped up into your throat and your breathing came quick, making you hold onto the edges of the sink as you fought to push back the anxiety rushing through your veins.

If you had to do it for your people and the alliance, you would.

You looked up into the mirror, locking eyes with yourself. You took a slow, deep breath in, letting it back out slowly until your muscles were able to relax.

You could do this.

When you walked out of the bathroom, bringing your small bag with you, your muscles tensed once again as if you hadn’t spent minutes trying to force them to relax. You slowly made your way to the space you and Yoongi had been in before, where there was a decently sized bed pushed against the wall. Turning the corner to see the room from the hallway spiked your heart rate and your palms started to sweat, your fingers shaking a little around the fabric of the bag in your hands.

Yoongi was already on the bed.

Yoongi was already  _sleeping_  on the bed.

Relief rushed through you and you nearly collapsed, your knees growing weak as you let your eyes trail across his sleeping form, huddled underneath the fur blankets, his back facing you. You set the bag down a little ways from the bed and gingerly lifted the blankets to slip underneath them. The tremble in your hands lessened significantly, however your fingers still shook minutely as you laid down in the comfortable bed.

You expected it to take your body hours to fall asleep, but you were asleep almost the moment your head hit the pillow.

* * *

When you woke up, the sun was peeking in through the partially open windows and you could hear the distant lull of joyful voices and laughs. You sat up in the bed, rubbing your eyes before blinking them open to look around. Yoongi was sitting at a desk across the room, adorned in identical clothes as the ones he’d been wearing before the ceremony. Your throat tightened and you clenched the blankets between your fingers.

“Good morning,” you called out with a croaky voice. You cleared it awkwardly to get rid of the heaviness in the tone of it.

Yoongi didn’t even turn to spare you a glance. “ _Monin_.”

“I’m assuming that means good morning?” you asked, your stare turning harsh as you watched him write something on a piece of paper.

“Yes,” he replied in a clipped tone. You sighed; was he going to be like this forever? You’d just gotten married! Was it too difficult for him to at least pretend to want to get along? “Get dressed. We are going to see  _heda_  once you are done.”

“Fine,” you grunted, swinging your legs off the bed and standing up, stretching out the kinks in your muscles as you grabbed your bag and made your way down to the bathroom. You changed quickly into thicker clothes for the cold weather and came back out to meet your new husband.

He was standing, waiting for you. When he spotted you, his eyes narrowed and he looked you up and down. “Do you not have a jacket?”

You looked down at the jacket you’d slipped on—though, you could admit that it was on the thinner side. “This is my jacket…”

He sighed exasperatedly and walked over to the closet, rummaging around and pulling out an article of clothing. “Put this on. The weather will not be kind to you.” He held his spare jacket out to you, waiting for you to take it from him.

You quickly grabbed it, sending him an awkward smile. “Thank you.”

Yoongi merely nodded in response, gesturing for you to follow him as he made his way to the door. You hurried to catch up, buttoning the jacket closed across your torso. The two of you stepped out of the house and began to make the short trip to the middle of the village where the hall with  _heda_  would be. You smiled politely at the people you met on the way there, who congratulated the two of you on your marriage for the umpteenth time.

Yoongi had a certain grace about him as he thanked the villagers, bowing slightly toward the people walking opposite the two of you. His smile was sweet, though you could see the tightness in his jaw that betrayed he wasn’t exactly happy with the arrangement. Watching him greet the others, you let out a quiet sigh into the cold air.

Eventually, the two of you stepped into the large hall, warmth engulfing your body. Goosebumps rose against your skin at the sudden change of temperature and you shuddered, grateful for the jacket around your torso that you’d been loaned. Yoongi led the way, a step ahead of you the whole time and you were content to simply follow behind him until the two of you reached the doors into the room you’d already spent hours in with Seokjin.

“Ah!” Seokjin greeted, an uncharacteristic smile on his face as he watched the two of you stroll into the room, two guards shutting the doors behind you. Yoongi clapped Seokjin on the back when the two of you reached the table and you eyed the plates upon plates of delicious food laid out in front of you. Yoongi sat beside Seokjin and you hesitated, unsure if you should sit beside him or across from him, beside Namjoon. You noticed Seokjin’s lips twitch while he watched you, as if amused; you glanced at Yoongi, but he was giving you a completely blank look. You shifted on your feet and then moved forward, pulling out the seat beside Namjoon and lowering yourself, immediately making eye contact with Yoongi, who gave you a look that you couldn’t quite understand; it almost seemed like respect, but you weren’t sure.

“ _Os sad klin_ ,” Seokjin remarked. You looked away from Yoongi, who looked down at the food at the sound of his  _heda_ ’s voice. He gestured with his hand for you all to begin eating, but you noticed Yoongi refrained from grabbing his utensils. You also held back, watching your husband stay still. Once Seokjin had eaten his first bite, Yoongi finally grabbed some bread and took a bite from it. You glanced sideways and saw Namjoon begin eating, and you followed suit right after him. When you looked back up, you met Yoongi’s eyes and his raised brow. You raised your own brows at him and he let out a small chuckle before looking away from you; you had to bite your tongue to keep a satisfied smile off of your face.

Once you’d all eaten as much as your stomachs could handle, servants made their way into the room and began cleaning up the table. As soon as they finished clearing away all of the food, Seokjin immediately relaxed back in his seat and looked at you and Namjoon.

“We have begun to discuss strategy; however, Nia will not make any moves for at least two months.”

“How do you know that for certain?” Namjoon pressed, leaning his arms against the table, giving Seokjin a hard look.

Yoongi spoke before Seokjin could even open his mouth.

“I mentioned to you before the ceremony,  _heda kom Skaikru_. She needs the support of the other clans. If she attacks right after our marriage, she will have cut off any future support she may gain from unhappy clans.”

Namjoon pursed his lips. “But how can you  _guarantee_  that she won’t just attack anyway?”

Yoongi basically snarled at your friend, leaning closer while his  _heda_  watched on silently. “I don’t know how your people from the skies view things, but here on the ground we have things that are sacred to all. Marriages, even for alliance purposes, are one of those. She will not attack for at least two months. No other clan will support someone who does not respect our sacred ceremonies.”

Seokjin eyed his second-in-command before cutting in. “With that out of the way, we must use this time to begin getting our people used to each other.” Silence met his statement and he continued on. “Your people are free to return back to your camp, but your second stays here with Yoongi.”

Your heart dropped low into your stomach at the words—with everything going on, you most definitely did not want to stay in the Trikru village by yourself.

“ _Heda_ ,” you started carefully, sitting up straighter when he cut his glance over to you from Namjoon. “It would be more advantageous for Yoongi to come back with us to our camp first.”

Seokjin scoffed. “And why is that?”

You swallowed past the lump growing in your throat, refusing to glance at the man who was now your husband, keeping your gaze focused on his leader instead. “Even though you say Nia will not attack for two months, we can use that time to start moving more of Trikru scouts and warriors to our camp without causing suspicion. We can start talks of strategy as well, and prepare for when she does decide to strike.”

You pleaded silently that he would see your logic and go along with your plan. He seemed to be mulling it over.

“She’s right,” Yoongi spoke, surprising you. You didn’t think he’d be interested in going to Skaikru territory any time soon and was probably dreading it. He glanced at you once, giving you a tiny nod—it was such a small gesture that you almost didn’t catch it. “We would gain more from that. I can also help train the sky people there.”

Seokjin sighed through his nostrils, clenching his jaw as he looked at the three of you. “Fine. You go with them first.”

You couldn’t help the smile that broke through, but you quickly schooled your features when the  _heda_  looked at you sharply. He looked back at Yoongi.

“Take a few warriors and scouts with you. Only a handful; we want to move people and things slowly, as to not imply that we know of Nia’s plan. It’s no doubt she will be watching us all.”

Your now-husband nodded, his dark hair shaking and his face impassive—you hated that you couldn’t tell what he was thinking when you looked at him, his inner musings closed off from everyone around him.

The two leaders had much to discuss, so you and Yoongi were told to go get your peoples ready for the journey back to Skaikru. His strides were long and his posture perfect, but you could see the tense lines of his body as he walked and you eyed him warily as you struggled to keep up with him until you were both outside of the  _heda_ ’s hall. The air was damp and the wind was cold, chilling your limbs even through Yoongi’s jacket.

“Tell your  _kru_  to get ready to leave in an hour,” Yoongi said gruffly, barely glancing your way. You huffed, rolling your eyes. He was looking around, presumably for the few grounders that he wanted to bring with him.

“Yeah, sure,” you drawled. “What about our stuff?”

Yoongi’s eyes cut back to meet yours, a tense silence permeating between the two of you. “Come back to the home when you tell your people to gather their things. You will pack your things from there.”

You nodded and bit your lip. “Okay.” He started to turn away from you and you rushed forward, gripping his forearm to stop him. His eyes were dark and still unreadable as he shifted to watch you curiously, his arm frigid in your grasp. “Uh—see you later, then.”

Yoongi’s lips twitched up into the ghost of a smile. “Yes, see you  _houmon_.”

* * *

You didn’t see Yoongi back at the home, nor in the bustling village. You smiled at the grounders that spoke to you as you passed them, thanking them for their congratulations they offered and ignoring the stinging in your palm. The next time you saw Yoongi was when he came to the front of the village with a handful of grounders alongside him—and horses.

“We do not have enough for all of us,” he told the group of you watching the animals with wide eyes. Namjoon’s eyes were big and bright as he raked in the horses, different shades of black and brown. You turned your eyes to Yoongi as he told everyone to tie their belongings to the horses, only the scouts able to mount them and go on ahead of the group.

Someone called your name and you whirled around to look behind your husband, where Taehyung and Jungkook were standing. You smiled widely as Taehyung came up and patted you on the shoulder, clapping Yoongi’s back as he passed the two of you. 

“Taehyung, you’re coming with?” you asked happily, starting to walk with him.

“Yes,  _lukot_.  _Heda_  told Yoongi to bring a few of us to your camp and he chose us among the others.” Taehyung shot Jungkook, who was walking a few paces behind the two of you, a wicked smile. When you looked at the young boy, adorned in layers and layers of green clothing, he simply rolled his eyes and averted your gaze.

A hand caught yours and tugged you back.

You stumbled back and when you traced your glance up the hand holding you and up the arm, you met Yoongi’s blank eyes. He said nothing as the others began making their way forward, his fingers slipping between yours and keeping hold of you; it shot sparks through you and you tugged at your hand, attempting to pull away from him.

“What are you doing?” you whispered as people passed you, everyone already a few paces away. “We don’t have to  _pretend_  for anyone; they all know this is for the alliance.”

Yoongi’s blank expression twisted into a scowl, his grip on your hand tightening for a brief second before releasing you. “It’s not pretending,  _houmon_. However you might view marriages from where your people are, it is different for us. Don’t risk the alliance by losing yourself in other men.”

Your cheeks felt hot and he raised an eyebrow at you, starting to walk away. You followed quickly, jogging to match his pace before slowing down to stay beside him. “ _Excuse_  me? Why the hell would you say that?”

“You seem awfully close with Taehyung,” he responded blankly. 

“What, I can’t have friends?” you seethed, adjusting the straps of your bag as he attempted to quicken his pace and maintain more distance from you. “Taehyung and I are just  _friends_ , there’s no feelings ther—”

“I do not care for whatever feelings you may have for him, but do  _not_  act on them. It would be a shame to ruin an alliance for the sake of something as—as  _branwoda_  as love.”

You paused, letting him get farther away, confusion settling in. You didn’t know what the word meant, but you wondered if he’d had bad experiences with love; he seemed to spit out his request of you, and you weren’t sure how you should take it. Eventually, you simply began walking again, staying near the back and not minding when Yoongi didn’t wait for you.

When night began to settle in, blanketing the forest in darkness, Yoongi managed to make his way to the front of the group and tell them to set their bags down for the night.

Namjoon attempted to argue with him, wanting to get back as soon as possible, but Yoongi silenced him quickly.

“There is no point travelling past nightfall,” your husband said. “The risk is too great to take, especially now.”

Namjoon bristled quietly as he gestured for all of you to begin settling in for the night, using logs as makeshift seats and pulling out blankets the Trikru grounders had provided for all of them. You made your way to Namjoon, wanting to discuss things with him and reassure him that his authority hadn’t been questioned by your people, but your name being called stopped you.

You turned to find the source, which was Yoongi. The intensity of his look as he waited for you to respond made a shudder wrack through your body.

“Yes?” you said simply, aware of the eyes on the two of you.

“ _Miya_ ,” he commanded you. You wanted to refuse, roll your eyes at the way he demanded you come to him, but you knew it would be unwise to do so. His people were watching,  _your_  people were watching, and while everyone knew this marriage was in name alone and served a purpose greater than love, it was still a  _marriage_.

Attempting to hold back the grumbling you so dearly wished to mutter, you walked over to him and allowed him to lead you a bit away from the rest of the group, setting up the blankets in his bag. He looked back at you and didn’t say a word.

“Is this whole marriage going to just be you looking at me expectantly?” you asked sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes at you. “ _Riden_.” He started to walk away, but you stopped him with a grip on his forearm. He glanced down at the way your hand grabbed him before meeting your eyes.

“You know I’m not fluent, right?” you mumbled. “Half the time I have no idea what you’re saying to me. Taehyung didn’t exactly teach me the whole language.”

Yoongi let out a breathy laugh, resting his hand on top of yours. He pushed it gently off of his arm and then brought his hand back to his side, leaving you feeling embarrassed for touching him.

“I will teach you,” he said simply. “ _Riden_  is ‘sleep.’ You looked tired today.” Your lips parted in surprise that he’d even noticed, and then he was moving away from you, heading farther down past the group. You wondered what he was doing, but then you heard the familiar sound of the horses’ hooves on the ground signaling the return of the scouts. They slid off their horses and immediately began speaking to Yoongi.

You couldn’t help the bristling of annoyance sizzling in your skin when you realized how he left Namjoon out of whatever they were talking about. Not wanting to make a scene, you huffed to yourself and slid into the blankets, shutting your eyes and letting the sound of nature lull you to sleep, relishing in the small beauties that you had missed out on when you were in the Ark.

* * *

When your group had reached the camp, Namjoon made sure to lead the way in, assuring the guards that the grounders and him had reached an agreement, a truce, and that they could lower their weapons as you neared the gates.

You could hear the whispers of your people as the grounders made their way inside the camp along with you, Yoongi sticking close to your side and the other grounders sticking close to Yoongi.

“Alright, alright,” Namjoon called to your people, who had all stopped their duties around the camp to watch cautiously. “I want everyone gathered here so I can explain what you need to know. Make sure everyone is here in ten minutes!”

There was a murmur of agreement from the groups, dispersing to tell their friends who weren’t present about the meeting. You let a smile cross your face as they all listened immediately, warmth blossoming in your chest at how much everyone trusted Namjoon; and why shouldn’t they? He’d kept all of you alive and  _together_  for months since reaching the ground, even as fear and hysteria had spread when kids had started dropping dead.

You all owed him your lives.

“Namjoon,” you called softly, getting his attention from where he was watching everyone mull about, gathering meager supplies and attempting to finish their chores. When your leader faced you, you continued. “Let’s get the grounders set up somewhere.”

Namjoon nodded, turning to address the warriors and scouts, who held their horses by their reigns and watched your leader carefully. “Okay, we can set you all up in the dropship,” he told them. “We... don’t really have much to offer you in terms of shelter.”

“ _En’s ku_ ,” Yoongi replied—by this point, you and Namjoon as well as the others in your small party knew that meant ‘it’s okay’ after hearing it thrown around so often in the Trikru village. “We will help you build more sturdy structures for homes.” Your husband’s eyes swept across the small camp. “You did well on the walls, but you are enclosed too much.”

Namjoon sighed, nodding his head along with Yoongi’s examination of the camp. He started walking and you followed, gesturing for the grounders to follow as well. “Yeah, we were a little pinched for time, considering your people were killing ours.”

Yoongi shrugged, ignoring the icy tone. “Trespassers all get the same treatment.  _Yu nou noseim_.” He passed you to walk closer to Namjoon, the two of them immediately partaking in conversation. You scoffed quietly, irritation bubbling to the surface once more at being excluded.

Taehyung and Jungkook came up to your side, Taehyung right beside you and Jungkook slightly behind the two of you. “He said ‘you are not different,’” the grounder helpfully supplied. You smiled your thanks and nudged him softly. He smiled back at you as you reached the dropship.

Besides Taehyung, none of the grounders had ever seen something like this. When you all walked up the ramp that you usually kept open and into the dropship, which you’d helped transform from a pod to something resembling a medical and supply hub, you watched with amusement as the grounders looked around in wonder.

There were a few beds tucked away in the corner, usually reserved for people that needed to stay and rest for medical reasons, but Namjoon offered them up to the grounders. Yoongi stayed put beside you, not going near the beds as his people started to put their things down and settle into the cots.

“You’re staying with me, I’m assuming,” you mumbled to Yoongi, not even bothering to glance over at him.

“Yes,” he responded. “It only makes sense, does it not?”

You sighed. “Yeah, it does make sense.”

Once the grounders had settled their things in the small space, Namjoon clapped his hands and gestured for them to follow him back out. “We’re going to explain what our people need to know.”

As you walked, you rushed forward and grabbed Namjoon’s elbow, tugging him to the side to stop as the grounders walked ahead, toward the middle of the camp where the rest of your people were.

“What are you going to tell them?” you asked quietly.

“Everything,” he replied easily. “They deserve to know just as much as we do.”

“But—”

“No buts,” he interrupted you, tugging his arm gently out of your grasp. He rested a hand on your shoulder and smiled at you gently. “We’ve all been through too much together to hide things.” He paused, face falling for a second before he slipped the mask of Leader on and you could see no trace of hesitation in his expression. “There aren’t many of us left.”

Your heart twisted in your chest, squeezing as you remembered all of your friends that had died, struck down by the landing, the wilderness itself, or by the grounders over the past few months. “I know,” you whispered, resting your own hand on top of his on your shoulder. You squeezed it comfortingly. “You’re right. They deserve to know.”

Namjoon nodded his head and removed his hand, turning away and walking toward the center of the group that had started to form, your people ready to hear his words. You made your way over just as he began to speak, detailing the terms of the alliance and appeasing their frustration at the entire situation, reminding them that they needed help so that no more of their friends fell victim to the cruelties of the Earth.

Yoongi’s hand found the small of your back for a split second as you came to stand beside him, the brush of his palm so fleeting that you weren’t completely sure it actually happened. You glanced over at him, but his hand remained at his side and he was facing the group; you furrowed your brows and looked back at the group, ignoring their sympathetic looks at the information of your impromptu wedding to a high ranking grounder.

When everything was set and done, Namjoon dismissed everyone to continue on their duties, but Yoongi held up a hand and managed to gather their attention again before they completely dispersed. You were in awe at how easily he commanded their gazes, barely even needing to speak for them to stop and wait for his next words.

“As your  _heda_  said, we must prepare for war with Azgeda. They will attack whether or not we have an alliance, but this union will stop them enough for us to teach you,” he told them, voice strong and deep as he spoke.

“Teach us?” Hoseok piped up, furrowing his brows and shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. “Teach us what?”

“How to fight,” Yoongi said. “You are all part of Trikru now. And you must learn to protect yourselves, should Azgeda manage to get to this camp.” There was a heavy silence and Yoongi observed the dismay lingering in the air, resting his hands on his hips. “We will start teaching you all tomorrow.”

Murmurs broke out between the group as they left, going back to their posts to finish their duties before it was time to eat and sleep.

Yoongi turned to face you as the grounders began to make their leave, some going back to the dropship and others walking around the camp to speak with the sky people and familiarize themselves with the supplies.

“Where is your home?” he asked. At your blank look, he gestured at the bags. “Let’s set our stuff inside before you show me around,  _houmon_.”

Your neck felt hot and you willed the flush to go away before the heat reached your cheeks, still not used to being addressed as  _houmon_ ; it sounded so intimate and you two were anything but.

“This way,” you mumbled, walking past him and expecting him to follow without turning back to make sure. It didn’t take long to reach your tent, seeing as your camp was much smaller than their Trikru village. When you stood in front of it, Yoongi’s boots crunching on the ground just behind you, you bit your lip. “It’s not as nice as yours, but—”

“It’ll do,” he interrupted kindly. You remained silent, not wanting to say anything else and secretly thanking him for not letting you go on. He ducked inside after lifting the flap and you went in right behind him, watching him look around the smaller space. You’d all made the tents large enough for people to stand in and it was a few feet wide on all sides, enough to fit the cot and blankets and a small chair and desk that you’d managed to get from the dropship and from exploring parts of the wood when you’d first landed. You didn’t know why but watching Yoongi take in your small living space was stifling, tension licking at your skin as he surveyed it silently before walking forward and dropping his bags and yours beside the small bed.

He turned back to you without saying a word about the living quarters and you were immensely thankful. “ _Tsa bants_.” He saw your face twisting into confusion and translated his own words for you, gesturing with his hand for you to leave first. “Let’s go.”

As you did as you were told, you started to think that you might be understanding what Taehyung meant when he’d said Yoongi was a better choice than most to spend your life with. Even if you two never grew fond of each other, you knew he would at least be pleasant and kind to you, in his own way. And you would treat him the same.

Showing him around proved to be more exhausting than you thought it’d be, with all his questions and pausing to examine the materials you had and used for the camp. He spoke to the scouts from before in Trigedasleng and they murmured and nodded agreement before departing, going back to the gates and speaking with the guards.

“They will help your guards keep watch,” Yoongi explained.

“Ah,” you acknowledged.

A call of your name distracted you, the sun having already set a few minutes ago and the dark of the night sky beginning to blanket the Earth. You looked around until you spotted Jimin, who was coming forward quickly—almost running to reach you.

“Hey,” you greeted simply, smiling at him. Yoongi remained still beside you, not moving as he eyed Jimin.

Jimin swept his gaze across Yoongi, barely keeping the distaste from his expression as he turned to you. “How are you?” he asked softly, taking your hands into his. You were surprised by the bold action, especially as your  _husband_  was right next to you; even if he was only husband in name.

“I’m—” you stuttered, not sure what to do as Yoongi shuffled closer to you. “I’m fine?”

Jimin’s fingers tightened around yours. “I can’t believe they’d force you into this.” His voice was dark as he cut his glance toward Yoongi briefly. “It was awful of them to do that to you, just because you were one of the only  _girls_ —”

“No, Jimin, no,” you cut him off quickly, laughing nervously as Yoongi stiffened slightly behind you but still next to you. “I wasn’t forced and it wasn’t because of me being a girl,” you explained. “Yoongi is, uh—he’s the  _heda_ ’s second-in-command and I’m technically Namjoon’s, in so many words, so it made sense for me to do it.”

“But still, Namjoon should have—”

You shook your head, smiling softly at Jimin. “Namjoon was ready to protest on my behalf, but it’s fine, Jimin, really. I agreed to it. An alliance is important for our people, for our survival.”

Before Jimin could continue spewing his anger and prejudices, Yoongi’s arm came around your waist and he tugged you toward him lightly. You quickly pulled your hands from Jimin’s dislodging his hold as you swallowed nervously.

“It’s about time we get to bed, isn’t it,  _houmon_?” Yoongi asked you lowly.

When you looked at his face, his eyes were focused on Jimin and not on you, the pitch of his voice causing goosebumps to raise on your flesh. You swallowed again, his arm pressed against you leaving a scorched tingle even through the layers of clothes, including his jacket.

“Y-Yes,” you stuttered, looking away from his face and the way the fire in the middle of the camp illuminated his features beautifully. “Goodnight Jimin,” you told the boy as you and Yoongi departed, walking stiffly in his grip until you’d reached your tent.

Once you were both inside, the flap fluttering shut behind you, Yoongi let go of you immediately. You ignored the way your body craved his touch longer, not used to  _much_  physical contact after being locked away in the Sky Box for so long before being hurdled toward the Earth, abandoned by the adults who were supposed to care for you and all of your friends.

“Jimin’s harmless,” you said into the silence, watching Yoongi shrug his jacket off. You couldn’t help the way your eyes roamed the tattoos on his arms, peeking out from his short sleeves.

He turned back to you and raised an eyebrow. “I know,” he replied. “But you are still  _ain_   _houmon_.” He pivoted away from you again, slipping his shoes off and pulling out a thicker blanket from his bag to lay atop of yours on the bed.

You followed his lead and slipped the jacket off, setting it on the back of your chair and slipping your own thinner one off as well. He was already starting to get comfortable in your small bed, raising his arms up above and tucking his hands under his head, closing his eyes to give you a semblance of privacy while you got your pajamas out of your bag. You changed into sleeping clothes quickly, which were just pairs of baggier clothes that you could find, and then you paused, unsure of what to do.

Yoongi cracked his eyes open and slid his gaze to your fidgeting form. “Well? Are you not going to sleep?”

You bit your lip, too nervous to answer.

“We slept in the same bed before,  _veida_ ,” he teased, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “This is no different. We will be spending much of our time in the same bed from now on.” You ignored the heat his words sparked in your belly, knowing he hadn’t meant it sexually, but your body reacting anyway. He was a handsome man that was now tied to you, and you hadn’t been touched in a long time.

You slipped wordlessly into the bed beside him, the width of it not enough for two people to lay comfortably separate, so your entire side brushed against the warmth of his body.

“ _Reshop_ ,” he said quietly, his voice sending more sparks through your skin as the fabric of his shirt brushed against your skin. You curled into the fur blankets and held back a shiver.

“Goodnight,” you replied just as quietly.

You woke to the soft sound of rustling, birds chirping and quiet conversations; no matter how long you spent on the ground, you’d never tire of listening to the sounds of the Earth—on the Ark you often woke to silence or the whirring of the machinery.

You blinked your eyes open, Yoongi’s form coming into focus in front of you. You stared sleepily as he pulled a shirt down to cover his torso, the ink spiraling on his skin drawing your gaze for the split second you could see it. Blearily, you continued to watch him dress himself as he tugged a heavy jacket around his shoulders, the chill of winter already approaching.

He turned to peek at you and caught your gaze. In your haze of sleep, it took you a few minutes of tense silence to realize  _why_  it was so tense in the tent as you stared at each other. Heat crawled up your neck as he huffed out a quiet laugh, a smirk playing at his lips as he raised an eyebrow teasingly at you. You rolled over in the bed so that your back was facing him and said nothing, ignoring the soft chuckles as he left, the flap of the tent alerting you that he’d taken his leave.

You buried your hands in your face and bit back a frustrated scream at having been caught ogling him while he changed. How embarrassing. It took you a few minutes to collect yourself before you could get up and get ready, changing your own clothes and grabbing Yoongi’s spare jacket from the chair. You hesitated for a moment before slipping it on, pushing the thoughts of it being  _his_  jacket that you were wearing out of your mind—you’d already worn it in the past few days as you travelled from their village back to your camp, so it shouldn’t matter if you continued to wear it.

Slipping out of the tent, you let your eyes roam across the campers, a few kids running around to do the more minor chores like cleaning and carrying things. You spotted Taehyung and Jungkook helping the guards carry wood into the gates and exchange a few words with them.

You raised your hand in greeting as you jogged over to them. “Taehyung!” you called.

“ _Lukot_!” Taehyung greeted, boxy smile in place as you came to a stop in front of them. His eyes glinted for a second as Jungkook cleared his throat, completely ignoring you and turning to face the guard he was speaking with.

“Hey, ____,” the guard said, smiling softly at you. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah,” you replied easily, smiling back. “Thanks, Nathan. You guys training or something?”

Nathan shrugged, nudging Taehyung with his shoulder. “Not really, they’re just showing us some tricks with spears and stuff. Yoongi said he was going to teach us more hand-to-hand stuff later in the evening.”

“Oh, Yoongi said?” you asked innocently, widening your eyes just a fraction to appear more nonchalant.

“Yes,  _yu houmon_.” Taehyung patted your shoulder and chuckled. “What do you do during the day,  _lukot_?”

You sighed loudly, shaking your head playfully as you pretended to be offended. “Are you suggesting that I don’t do anything?”

The grounder’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Maybe. You seem to have an awful lot of free time, don’t you think?”

Nathan cut into the conversation, eyes darkening dangerously. “Hey, man. She helped keep us alive all these months, not cool—”

You lightly shoved at his chest when he tried to step between you and Taehyung. “Nathan,” you chided quietly. “It’s alright, he was joking.” Nathan stood tensely before backing away, and you took notice of the relaxed posture the two grounders had taken, but their eyes were calculating as they watched Nathan; you were reminded suddenly that these were real warriors, observing their enemy and taking notes of their weaknesses for possible openings.

“ _Daun ste pleni_ ,” Yoongi’s voice cut in, dispelling the rising thickness in the air between the four of you. Though Taehyung relaxed, Jungkook’s hand remained on the hilt of his weapon strapped to his waist, eyes trailing on you for a second before cutting back to Nathan. “Enough.” Yoongi’s voice was harsh, cold, commanding; Jungkook immediately lowered his hand, settling back tensely.

“Yoongi,” Taehyung started, smiling easily. “Come for your  _houmon_?” he joked.

“Yes,” your husband responded, bringing his hand up to your shoulder and startling you. You faced him in shock, not expecting for him to actually be looking for you specifically. “ _Miya, houmon_ ,” he told you quietly. “We must speak of strategy. As  _seken_  it is preferable that you be present.”

You made a soft noise of understanding and gestured for him to lead the way. The two of you bid your friends goodbye and started to walk across the camp to the largest tent, which you and Namjoon had set up as a sort of meeting space for strategies and important conversations.

“Finally,” Namjoon exclaimed when you ducked into the tent through the flap. Yoongi slipped in after you and let the flap shut behind him as you walked over to the small table, a map spread out on top of it. “We need to discuss what to do from now on.”

Your eyes roamed the map, taking in the marked territories. There was a marker laying beside it, which you assumed belonged to Yoongi. Seeing the unfamiliar scribbles detailing where the clans resided and their territory, you deduced that Yoongi had spent some time before now laying all of this out for you and Namjoon.

Yoongi came to stand beside you as the three of you huddled around the table. He pointed to a section of green that was right out from where he’d written ‘ _Skaikru tof_ ’ over a circled area. “Is  _tof_  ‘land?’” you asked before he could speak, not removing your gaze from the map as you studied it.

“Yes,” Yoongi grunted after a beat of silence. You filed away the word to remember for later and continued to take in all of the different clans marked on the map. “I suggest that we slowly begin to expand Skaikru territory out to here,” he started. “Azgeda is over here—” He moved his finger to a much larger portion of the map farther to the East. “—and they will not get too antsy if you spread into Trikru  _tof_.”

“Won’t the other clans surrounding see it as an invasion?” Namjoon interrupted.

“No,” Yoongi replied. “ _Heda_  will have announced our alliance to the ambassadors by now, so the clans will all know that Skaikru has become one of us.” Namjoon let out a breath as he tried to take in all the new information. “Azgeda will know too, which means Nia has to stall now to curry favor with the other clans.”

“She’ll probably send spies,” you muttered.

Yoongi nodded his agreement. “Yes, probably. Be wary of anyone you do not recognize.” He paused and studied the map as well, all three of you standing in solemn silence.

You dragged a finger across the map in an arch around where the gates of your camp was. “If we start to make homes around here and have posts a little farther away, closer to Azgeda, that would also draw less suspicion since we’d be scouting for land. We can have people coming and going to the posts under the guise of building homes and they can keep an eye on anyone that passes through here.” You looked up at the two men, raising a brow.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Namjoon agreed. “It would be nice, too, to not be sleeping in tents still when winter comes.”

Yoongi nodded. “ _Sha_ , I agree. It’s a good cover to bring in more  _kru_  to scout and prepare for when she attempts to invade your camp.”

“When do you want to start bringing in more people?” Namjoon asked.

Yoongi hummed, narrowing his eyes at the map as he thought. “We should wait. If we rush to bring in people, even under the guise of spreading and making shelters, Azgeda will become suspicious and they might figure out that we know.”

Namjoon furrowed his brows. “I doubt they’d be able to figure all that out just from bringing in too many people to help us build structures.”

Yoongi’s cold gaze cut sharply to Namjoon’s. When he spoke, you could almost feel the chill in his words dancing across your flesh. “Do not underestimate Azgeda. They are a ruthless people. Their spies mingle with the clans, feeding their  _haiplana_  secrets and information about weaknesses.” He paused, glancing over to you cooly before continuing, eyes flitting between you and Namjoon. “The one who takes Azgeda lightly does not live long to regret their mistake.”

A sliver of fear dipped into your bloodstream, drawing out a shiver from your body. Biting your lip, you lowered your gaze and cleared your throat, not wanting to show such a weakness in front of the grounder, even if he was your spouse.

“Okay,” you said lightly. “Then let’s wait until it’s safe to bring more of your people into the camp without raising suspicion.”

Namjoon sighed quietly, lowering his hands to the table and leaning forward. “Okay, let’s do that.”

Yoongi was silent for a few moments. "For now, we will focus on the camp. Your walls are sturdy, but they require more work to keep invaders out. Your posts are cleverly hidden in the walls, especially for nightfall." He took a step back, away from you and the table. "I will train all of you, in the afternoons. You need to be prepared for combat, especially if Azgeda decides to attack sooner rather than later."

"We have two months, though, right?" you interrupted. "Because of the marriage?"

Yoongi nodded at you. "Yes, we do. But two months is barely enough time to make you into decent fighters. You will not be warriors by the time Azgeda attacks, but you will hopefully have learned the basics of combat enough to have it be..." He trailed off, narrowing his eyes. He blinked a few times, as if he was struggling to remember how to translate what he was thinking so you two could understand him. " _Mema in medo_?" he mumbled to himself.

You recognized  _mema in_  to translate roughly into 'remember' and you had an inkling of what he was trying to say. "To have it be muscle memory?" you asked softly.

The grounder looked surprised, eyes widening for a second as he nodded his head. "Yes. So your body remembers even if you don't."

You quickly smiled at him. "Yeah, that's muscle memory in our language."

Namjoon cleared his throat abruptly. You glanced over at him, startled, and saw him throwing suspicious looks between the two of you. "You can teach us basic training that will be muscle memory in two months?"

"If you focus on practicing the skills we teach you, yes," Yoongi replied. "It will not be as difficult as you think, once you start. Your  _goufa_ , your young ones, will be able to pick up the skills much faster than you." Namjoon started to roll up the map on the table, sticking it inside of his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Alright, sounds good to me," your leader spoke. "Anything else to add?"

You shook your head and Namjoon bid the two of you farewell, walking out of the spacious tent and leaving you and Yoongi alone.

You turned to face him, tilting your head. "How early do you all train?"

"We train to fight when we come of age," he replied simply, starting to make his way to the flap. You followed immediately, staying only a pace behind him as he ducked out of the tent and into the cool air.

"When does Trikru come of age?" you pressed.

He glanced back at you briefly and you hurried just a bit so you were walking beside him. "At twelve."

Your eyebrows flew so far up your head you weren't certain they'd ever be able to find their way back down. " _Twelve_?" you asked incredulously, voice rising and drawing a bit of attention. "You start practicing to fight so early?"

Yoongi leveled you with a look. "We do not practice only to fight,  _veida_. We train to kill."

Stopping in your tracks, you said nothing as you watched Yoongi continue to walk on his way, the shock at how their people differed from yours almost too much to process. No wonder they turned into warriors, having had to start training to be able to kill at such a young age. You stared at his back as he paused by the other grounders scattered around the camp, speaking to them and gesturing for the gate.

While you watched the grounders make their way around the camp, telling your people to finish their duties for the day and meet right behind the back gate by your burial grounds, you couldn't help but wonder how that mindset could have possibly affected them into adulthood.

* * *

The quick practice lesson had been tough, the grounders in your camp adamant about everyone working on their forms and nailing the positions and postures properly. Night had fallen, blanketing everyone in its welcome darkness, a large fire burning to life in the middle of the camp, where you'd all separated a specific spot to cook meat around.

Hoseok was passing around the moonshine he'd managed to make, noise erupting from all around you as your people let loose, joking and coming to life as their duties finished. You sat over on a log, taking some moonshine from Jimin and smiling gratefully as he ruffled your hair from where he stood above you. You swatted at his hands, laughing lightly, until he bid you goodnight and went to the friends that were calling him over.

You drank the moonshine, ready to lose yourself for the night, and grimaced as it burned your throat. You coughed light, face twisting for a few seconds longer before smoothing out again. Someone groaned as they plopped down beside you on the log, body slightly leaning into yours. You looked up and met Taehyung's brown eyes, a wide smile on his face.

"You!" you called out jokingly, shoving at his shoulder. He hollered a laugh as he shoved you back. "I can barely feel my arms because of you! Why were you picking on me so much during the lesson?" you whined.

Taehyung snickered, grabbing at your cup and snatching it from your hands. You let your mouth fall open in indignation as he tried it, nearly spurting it back out of his nose as he started to cough immediately. "What the hell is this? It's  _disgusting_!"

You pouted and grabbed the drink back from him. "Then don't drink it! Get your own." He made to grab for it again and to avoid him, you threw your head back and chugged the rest of it as quickly as you could, ignoring the shouts of surprise from Taehyung and a few others around you. You nearly choked on the drink, sputtering and coughing as your throat transformed into sandpaper, feeling as if the moonshine had burnt a trail straight down to your stomach.

You started to slip off of the log from where you'd tossed your body back and your arms pinwheeled to attempt to stop the momentum. Hands grabbed at your shoulders, nudging you upright again. You leaned back and looked up, meeting Yoongi's dark gaze, his face illuminated orange from the light of the fire.

Your mouth dropped open and you blinked cartoonishly at him. He simply stared back, hands remaining on your shoulders as the top of your head bumped into his stomach. He cleared his throat and nudged you forward, but you kept lolling back to rest on him.

“ _Yu ait au_?” he asked softly. You didn’t notice Taehyung’s calculating gaze darting between the two of you, completely forgetting that he was even sitting beside you. You didn’t answer, instead choosing to drink in his facial features, enjoying the warmth of his body seeping into you against the chill of the night air. “ _Houmon_?” he tried again.

“Hm?” you replied nonsensically, the effects of the moonshine already singing in your blood. You smiled up at him and shook the cup in your hand. “Did you—have—did you drink yet?” you mumbled.

Yoongi shook his head. “No.” His gaze darted to your cup quickly. “Maybe you should stop drinking,  _houmon_.”

You shook your head, a small noise slipping past your lips when your hair caught on the bottom of his jacket. He clenched his jaw and removed a hand from your shoulder to untangle your hair. The second you were free, you struggled to get to your feet, his arms immediately bracing a few inches away from your body just in case you fell.

“I want more!” you giggled, wobbling over to Hoseok, who was singing at the top of his lungs and having some kind of dance battle with a grounder, who was just as trashed as everyone else. You didn’t notice Yoongi following you briskly, just a few paces behind you and watching you carefully. “Hoseok!” you called happily. “Still got some moonshine?”

Hoseok paused, sending you a bright smile—it was like a miniature Sun, right in the middle of the dark woods and camp. “Of course! Help yourse—elf,” he hiccuped. You grinned at him and made to grab a cup full of the drink, ready to knock it back the way you had the first, your body tingling in all the right ways and your mind empty of thoughts of all the problems you were sure to face in the near future.

A hand slipped around you, chest brushing lightly against your back, and grabbed the cup before you could. You whined loudly and spun around to face whoever had snatched the last drink from right under your nose.

Yoongi knocked it back quickly, tossing his head back and you shamelessly watched his throat as he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. You licked your lips and heat pooled in your belly.

He made a small noise as he swallowed the last of it, face twisting as if he’d eaten a lemon, and he leaned forward to put the cup back on the table. The movement brought him even closer to you, making you dizzy with the earthy scent that permeated around you from how close he was.

“ _Yuj_ ,” he coughed lightly, rubbing at his mouth.

“What does that mean?” you breathed, shuffling a little closer to him. He watched you impassively as you moved, but then he leaned in and rested his palms on the edge of the table behind you, caging you between his arms. You swallowed roughly at the lack of distance between the two of you, the buzzing in your veins distracting you.

“Strong,” he translated. “We don’t—have drinks like this,” he mumbled, eyes darting down to your mouth.

“Well,” you started, lowering your voice. “Maybe we have much to teach you,” you whispered to him, licking your lips again, slower this time. He watched the action in a daze, heady with your proximity and the moonshine already making its way through his body.

“Maybe I can teach  _you_  some things,  _houmon_ ,” he replied, voice dangerously low and deep. You could barely stand it, heat pooling between your thighs and driving you crazy.

Driven by the liquid courage, you grabbed the front of his jacket and yanked him forward, pressing your mouth sloppily to his. Your mouth was already slightly open, needing him messily and  _now_. His lips moved against yours immediately, body crowding you against the table as he kissed you back, taking the lead and bringing a hand up to cup your jaw and tilt your head the way he wanted.

Abruptly, he pulled back with a loud smacking of lips. Your mouth was tingling and you wanted  _more_. Before you could even ask why he’d stopped kissing you, Yoongi smiled at you and leaned in to nip at your earlobe.

“Let’s take this somewhere more private,  _houmon_ ,” he purred into your ear, sucking on the lobe once before releasing it. You bit back a moan, head swimming with arousal and the drink you’d had, just as his was. You nodded your consent without question, wanting him  _everywhere_. Neither of you noticed the drunken and sober gazes on you as he led you by the hand quickly toward your tent, only focused on the way his hand felt around yours and wondering how it would feel between your legs.

You shuddered at the thought, arousal sweeping through you hotly. He ducked into the tent, pulling you along with him. The flap had barely fallen back to its place when Yoongi was on you, hugging your body to his as he descended to your mouth again, licking and nipping at your lips sloppily. You moaned into his mouth, parting your lips and pressing your tongue against his as he licked into your mouth hotly. He moved you backwards as he kissed you, barely even pulling away for air. Your ankles hit the small bed and you pulled away from him an inch to yank at your— _his_ —jacket.

Yoongi noticed what you were doing in his drunken haze and helped you, grabbing at his jacket and slipping it roughly from your shoulders. Dropping it unceremoniously on the ground, he tugged at the hem of your shirt until it was just above your breasts, revealing them to him. You couldn’t hold back the loud moan as he ducked his head to your chest, suckling wet kisses into the skin of your breasts and kneading them in his hands, abandoning your shirt to bunch at the top of your chest.

“ _Yoongi_ ,” you keened, arching your back and pushing your chest closer to him. He made a small appreciative noise as he wrapped his lips around one of your perked nipples, biting it gently and sucking roughly. Your moans were strangled and breathy, your hands finding his dark hair and tugging it roughly in your hands while you shoved him closer. His hand stopped kneading your other breast and he focused on the nipple, pinching it between his slender fingers and making you keen loudly.

He pulled away from your breasts with an obscene noise, eyes dark and pupils dilated when he met your gaze. You were sure you already looked fucked out, breaths coming rapidly and heavy as you watched him. He grabbed your shirt again and tugged it over your head, tossing it to the side.

“Pants off,” he grunted to you. You complied immediately, undoing your pants and bending to shove them completely down your legs, kicking them away and leaving you in your panties. Without waiting for his command, you hooked your fingers into the fabric and tugged it off as well, moving to toss them over with your other clothes.

Yoongi stopped you with a hand on yours, tugging your panties out of your hand. He winked at you and kept them in his grasp as he started to strip as well. You sat down on the bed, not even shy about the slick already dripping down your thighs and onto the blankets underneath you. Your mouth fell open as you watched him quickly tug his layers of clothes off, throwing them to the ground. The last to go was his underwear, leaving him completely bare to you as you were to him. Your eyes immediately lowered to his dick, erect and thick. You licked at your lips, wanting to taste him.

“Let me suck you,” you pleaded as he lowered himself to the bed.

He swallowed hard. “You don’t have to—”

“I want to,” you continued, getting onto all fours and crawling closer to him. “Please?”

He groaned gutturally and nodded his head, sitting back and spreading his legs apart to make room for you to crawl between them. You didn’t give him a chance to say anything, lowering your head and taking the tip into your mouth immediately. He sucked in a harsh breath and placed his hand lightly on the back of your head as you wrapped a hand around the base of his dick, lowering yourself and taking as much into your mouth as you could. You sucked and swallowed sporadically around it, bobbing your head up and down messily.

“That’s right,” he hissed, tangling his fingers in your hair as you moved on him. “Take my cock all the way.”

You complied, taking in a deep breath and lowering yourself to the hilt, feeling the head nudge at the back of your throat. You gagged around it as your airway constricted, swallowing harshly and bringing your hand down to cup his balls. Yoongi moaned loudly, thrusting his hips up into your mouth shallowly, the head repeatedly hitting the back of your throat as you massaged his balls. Tears welled in your eyes and you blinked them away, looking up at him through your eyelashes—his eyes were screwed shut, fist in your hair keeping you in place as he fucked your throat.

“Such a good girl for me, gagging on my cock,” he moaned, blinking his eyes open to watch you. His eyes focused on your mouth, wrapped around his dick, tears slipping down your cheeks from the onslaught of his thrusts. He let up after a few more pumps, pulling you off of him and nudging you onto your back. 

You were breathing heavily, blinking rapidly as he towered over your body. He slipped his hips between your legs and nestled his dick between your folds. A violent shudder ran through your body and you brought your arms up to wrap around his shoulders. He stopped you, pinning your hands to the bed and rolling his hips into yours, making you both groan at the delicious friction. The length of his dick rubbed against your clit and sent sparks of pleasure through you. After another few strokes, he pulled back and you whined loudly in protest.

Fabric brushed against your wrist and you blearily looked over, seeing your panties in his grasp. He brought his hand to your face and you looked at him in confusion.

“Open up,  _houmon_ ,” he purred. You did as you were told and he stuffed your panties into your mouth. A noise of surprise slipped from your mouth, muffled by the cloth, and your cheeks felt hot as he lowered himself to your torso, kissing a wet line down your body. He grabbed your thighs roughly, digging his fingers into the flesh as he spread them wide. You fisted the blankets in your fingers as he brought his mouth down to your pussy, licking a stripe up your folds. You let out a muffled sound as he moved his mouth against your folds, sucking at your clit a few times and then returning to licking at your folds and gathering your slick onto his tongue.

Your grip on the blanket tightened, your hips rolling up toward his mouth looking for more friction as he moved his mouth against you. He complied with your unspoken request, fingers digging into your thighs harder and mouth moving harsher on you. The noises from his mouth were lewd and sparked even more arousal in your belly, the slick gushing out of you and he chased it all, using his fingers to spread it around your folds. You bit out a moan around your panties as he slipped two fingers inside of you at once, sliding right in to the knuckles from how wet you were.

He wrapped his lips onto your clit and sucked hard, moaning as he rubbed his fingers inside of your walls, looking for that spot inside you. The vibrations ran through your body violently, pleasure sparking at a steady rate and building pressure inside of you. The erratic clenching around his fingers alerted him to your state and he pulled his mouth off of you with a lewd pop, fingers staying buried still inside of you.

“Yoongi!” you whined from around the panties, rocking your hips and looking for the pleasure again as your high was cut off.

He smirked at you, mouth shining with your slick, and you shuddered, clenching hard around his fingers. “Only good girls get to come,” he murmured, shifting up to press kisses on your chest, nipping at the underside of your breast.

“I’m good, I’m a good girl,” you mumbled, crying out when the heel of his palm pressed into your clit and his fingers curled inside of you. Without missing a beat, you rocked your hips violently up into his palm, chasing your release.

“Are you?” Yoongi asked, biting and sucking a mark into your breast. You keened and arched your back as you rolled your hips into his palm. “Will you be a good girl for me,  _houmon_?”

“Yes!” you cried, your voice muffled, pleasure ripping through your body hotly, sparks dancing behind your eyelids as you screwed them shut and erratically rubbed yourself on his palm. “I’ll be good for my  _houmon_ , I’ll be a good girl for you—”

“Good,” he purred gleefully, pressing a kiss into the mark that was sure to blossom darkly on your chest. He pulled his fingers out of your clenching pussy, drenched in your slick and used it to spread your thighs completely open, knees pressing into the bed.

You’d barely come down from your high when he rubbed the head of his dick up and down your wet folds, pressing it roughly into your clit a few times and making you moan from the slight pain. Yoongi pushed the head inside of you slowly, seeming to relish in your muffled mewls, hands coming up to grip his shoulders. He pushed in slowly, letting you adjust as he moved, until he was buried balls deep in you. As you adjusted to his girth, eyes rolling back from the overstimulation, he let out a shaky breath and started to gently grind his hips into yours. You let out small breathy moans, teeth biting down on the fabric of your panties as the pain edged slowly into pleasure, the two sensations twisting together inside of you and making you clench tight around his dick.

Yoongi grunted loudly, leaning down and licking a stripe up your neck as he started to pull out only a bit before thrusting back in shallowly. You dug your nails into the skin of his back as he moved inside of you, the natural curve of his dick filling your pussy perfectly and reaching your sweet spot easily.

“You’re so tight and wet,” he breathed, thrusting in harder. Your moans cut off, strangled from the pressure already building inside of you that made your toes curl. You locked your legs around his hips, using the grip to pull him closer, deeper. Growling, Yoongi grabbed your panties and yanked them out of your mouth. “I want to hear you,  _houmon_ ,” he panted, licking obscenely into your mouth once, twice, before pulling away and holding himself still inside of you. Without moving, he brought one hand down between your bodies and pressed the pads of his fingers against your clit, rubbing rough circles into it. You clenched sporadically around his dick as you screamed your pleasure, sobbing with it as it washed over you like a tidal wave, your vision blurring and breaths hitched as you arched your back, bucking your hips into him while he helped you through it. The combined feeling of him filling you so completely and the movements on your clit had you seeing stars, your head thrown back into the bed roughly.

You were still riding your high when Yoongi started to move, pulling himself out of you until only the head was inside of you before shoving his dick back inside roughly, starting a brutal pace. You could feel tears slipping down your cheeks as you tried to choke back the moans that were slipping past your lips, the rough thrusts driving you up the bed with every smack of his hips into yours. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and he buried his face into your neck, breathing roughly against your skin as he rolled his hips into you, slowing down.

“ _Ain_ ,” he growled against your throat, biting down roughly as he shoved his dick into you slowly, a tremble starting in your body as sparks lit up your skin, flames licking at your insides with every drag of his dick against your clenching walls. You whimpered as you felt another orgasm building, your toes curling and heels digging into his back as you simultaneously tried to stave it off and let it take you over.

“Yoongi,  _please_ —” you begged, not even sure what you were asking for. He grunted and licked up your neck slowly, bringing one hand to your breast and kneading it roughly. You moaned loudly, the lewd noises of your slick and his balls slapping against you with each thrust of his hips coupled with his fingers digging into the sensitive skin of your breast bringing you even closer to the edge. You bit down on your lip as he brought his fingers to your nipple, tweaking it harshly. Your third orgasm washed over you quickly and hard, your moans trailing into sobs as your body twitched, Yoongi’s hand releasing your breast and coming up to your throat lightly, holding it steady there without any pressure as you tightened impossibly around him.

“ _Jok_ ,” Yoongi snarled, quickening his pace until he was barely pulling out of you, grinding against your hips and trying to push in deeper, his dick completely sheathed inside of you. You were breathing heavily as his movements became sloppy, his come spurting inside of you hotly and filling you up. A shiver ran through your body and you clenched around him as he dragged his dick in and out of you slowly, the ropes of come weakening with every stroke. Panting, he pushed inside of you once more and held himself still as the last spurts of his come filled you completely, his dick holding it all inside and keeping it from spilling out. Though, you could already feel some of it slipping past his softening dick and down your ass.

His sweat-slicked skin was sticky against yours and you hugged him to your chest when he dropped on top of you, shifting his hips to let his dick slip out of you. The second it did, everything came gushing out of you, your juices mixing with his seed as it slipped down to the bed, dirtying the blankets completely.

Yoongi lifted himself from your embrace, smiling softly down at you. You returned his smile, giggling when he nearly slipped trying to sit back on his legs. Before you could comprehend what was going on, his hands were on your calves and shoving them up. You yelped as he nearly folded your body in half, dark eyes taking in the way his release mixed with yours and slipped out of you. You could feel heat spreading up your neck to your face and you whined.

“Yoongi, it’s embarrassing!” you complained quietly, trying to lower your legs back down. Surprisingly, he let you, lowering your legs for you but keeping himself between your thighs. He shuffled down the bed a bit and then dipped down onto his elbows, face right in front of your swollen pussy.

“You look so beautiful like this,  _houmon_ ,” he murmured, glancing up to meet your eyes from between your thighs. Your heart picked up speed at his words. “So beautiful, fucked and completely mine,” he continued lowly, licking his lips as he brought his gaze back down to your pussy. You shuddered and a throb started between your legs.

Yoongi hummed and then surged forward, pressing his hot tongue against your folds and suckling your clit. The moan that tore itself out of your throat sounded more like a scream and your hands immediately found their way into the locks of his hair, tugging them softly as your knees tried to close around his head. He kept a hand on one of your thighs, pressing it against the bed as he moved his mouth from your clit to the juices seeping out of you, licking it up and moaning quietly as he did.

Two of his fingers found their way to your aching pussy, slippery as they gathered his come and your juices and spreading them around your folds. He licked it up, the sounds of his suckling and mouthing lewd and lighting up the arousal in your belly again. Your swollen clit throbbed, aching for more but you weren’t sure you’d be able to handle it.

“Yoongi, please, I  _can’t_ —” you whimpered, your hands unsure if they wanted to tug him away or push him closer until his face was completely buried in your pussy.

He hummed, pulling away briefly and sliding his fingers into your abused hole, curling them and finding your g-spot quickly. Your breath hitched and you clenched around his fingers while he worked them inside of you rapidly. “Yes you can,” he said softly, lowering his mouth to press a chaste kiss to the inside of your thigh. “You said you’d be a good girl for me,  _houmon_. Aren’t you a good girl?”

His voice was like a drug, drawing you into him and into a daze. Your mouth felt dry as he pulled his fingers out to catch some of the come that was slipping out, stuffing it back inside of your pussy and watching you carefully from between your legs. You nodded your head, voice breathy and at a higher octave than it had been before as the painful pleasure started to wrack through your body, building up for an explosive snap.

“Yes,” you breathed. “Yes, I’m a good girl for  _ai_   _houmon_.”

“Good,” he murmured gently before leaning back down and pressing the flat of his tongue against your clit, alternating between licking and sucking it roughly, his slippery fingers curling and working at your g-spot relentlessly.

It didn’t take long at all for the orgasm to hit you full force, your eyes screwed shut and your body seizing up completely as you came, the release straddling the line of pleasure and pain as heat licked through your veins, Yoongi’s mouth and fingers all you could focus on, everything else fading into static.

When you came to your senses, Yoongi was cooing at you gently, mumbling soft nothings into your ear as he held your body close to him, arms wrapped around you tight and a hand smoothing your hair out of your face. You blinked blearily up at him from where he was holding your head against his chest and he pressed a kiss to your forehead. Your thighs felt sticky and gross, but your body felt too weak to move away from Yoongi and his own warmth.

He tucked you both under the fur blankets, his arms coming back around your form and holding you close to him. His eyes were already closed, ready to sleep, and you strained your neck up to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth chastely. His eyes fluttered open to meet yours, but you didn’t hold his gaze; you let your eyes flutter shut and you slipped into a deep sleep, dreams filled with grounders and the sounds of nature.


End file.
